Join the Student Council and the Ptarmigan Parent Club for a movie night on January 23rd at 5:30 pm! Vote for your movie choice here!
The Ptarmigan Parent Club will also be hosting a parent conversation meeting on January 28th at 5:30 pm. This meeting gives the parent club a chance to listen to our community and get feedback on what we'd like to do for the upcoming months. Kids are always welcome but this will be a parent focused meeting. We look forward to seeing you there!
Nothing new to report for January. Happy New Year Timberwolves!
Cassandra Espinoza BSN-RN PMH-BC
Ptarmigan School Nurse
888 Edward Street
Anchorage, AK 99504
Phone: 907-742-0417
Fax: 907-742-0425
Ptarmigan Families,
We would like to thank the Benton Family for their generous donation to the Ptarmigan Library. The Benton Family has donated a bear rug, Ram head, Deer head and Caribou head, in addition to skulls with a European mount. These items are incredibly valuable and a beautiful addition to our library. We are so grateful for this donation. The students were extremely excited to see the additions and are eager to learn more about these magnificent animals.
Happy New Year to all of our Timberwolves!
Mrs. Giammalva and Mrs. Gaither
Teacher-Librarians
Welcome, 2025! Ptarmigan students have two more quarters of exciting music-making ahead. I hope you all had a restful Winter Break and are ready to jump back into learning and creating together.
We ended 2024 with our annual sing-along, and I heard from Santa himself that he loved our singing, especially the special song we sang just for him. It was a great way to wrap up the year!
5th Grade – Recorders and Ukuleles
Fifth graders will continue their recorder work, and they will also begin learning the ukulele. This is always a fun transition, as the ukulele brings new skills and sounds into our music-making. I encourage all students to practice at home if possible.
4th Grade – Recorders
Fourth graders will start learning the recorder in January. Don’t worry about buying one right away— I have enough recorders for all students. However, I highly recommend purchasing a personal recorder for home practice. Good brands include Yamaha, Angel, and Descant, and they range from $12.00 to $15.00. You can find them online (e.g., Amazon) or at local stores:
Music Man
4637 Old Seward Hwy.
Anchorage, AK 99503Horn Doctor
1000 Ingra Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
If you'd like to reduce some of the noise while practicing, there are also recorder silencers available. You can learn more about them here.
3rd Grade – Ukulele
Third graders will continue their work on the ukulele as we start the quarter. It’s exciting to see their progress, and we’ll be adding more fun songs and skills to our repertoire.
Younger Students
Our youngest musicians will continue to develop essential music skills, such as keeping a steady beat, using their singing voice, identifying different instruments, and demonstrating changes in tempo and dynamics. This foundational work will help them grow as musicians in the years to come.
Choir
Choir is starting up again in January! Look out for paperwork coming home soon with information about our next term. We are looking forward to creating beautiful music together.
I am so excited to continue making music with all of your students this year! As always, thank you for supporting their musical growth.
Mrs. Benton
Classroom Music Specialist
Hello Ptarmigan Families,
My name is Mathias Nees. It is my seventh year teaching in the Anchorage School District. I tought elementary health for 3 years and it is my 4th year teaching PE. I grew up here in Anchorage, Alaska and attended Service High School. I partipated in cross country running, skiing and track and field. I travelled out of state to study exercise science (Kinsesiology) in Idaho and and physical education in Louisiana. I am very happy to be back in Anchorage and also very excited to be teaching PE this year at Ptarmigan.
Mathias Nees
Elementary PE
Ptarmigan Elementary
